Outstanding leadership is crucial for the success of FIRST® in Texas. This community belongs to all of us, and we, the members of the selection committees, feel the weight of the importance of the selection. 

We recognize that we have the opportunity and the responsibility to strengthen the foundation of our organization, enabling us to better serve our students and position ourselves for future growth. There have been issues in the past with prior leadership, a lack of communication, and a dearth of transparency.  We are committed to doing better so that other members of our FIRST in Texas community can maintain their focus on the hard, exhausting, and amazingly rewarding work of serving students in our program and expanding it to reach more kids who need us.  

On February 2, 2025, Jason Arms left the organization to pursue opportunities outside FIRST in Texas.  Board Chairman and long-time volunteer, Eric van Gemeren, stepped up to serve as Interim Executive Director. After serving as Interim ED for two months, Eric let the Board of Directors know that he was interested in serving as the permanent ED in April 2025, and he removed himself from the selection process. Amy Bates took over as chair of the Board Selection Committee to ensure we continued to have an unbiased and objective process.